Author: CDP (CDP )

Three climate activists are going to trial on October 8 in Clearwater County, Minnesota for their courageous protest against the fossil fuel industry. They will have the opportunity to present one of the nation’s first climate necessity defenses — and Climate Defense Project needs your help to make this trial a success. We need to...

September 6, 2018 Berkeley, CA — In conjunction with this week’s Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice protests, Climate Defense Project has released the Principles of Climate Civil Resistance, a document summarizing the legal basis for nonviolent resistance to the fossil fuel system. The Principles list numerous legal violations committed by state and federal governments...

The Principles of Climate Civil Resistance is a document summarizing the legal basis for resistance to the fossil fuel system. A PDF version of the Principles is available here. CDP’s Update on the Principles can be found here. Principles of Climate Civil Resistance Civil resistance is a form of non-violent opposition to oppression, injustice, and environmental...

Climate Defense Project September 5, 2018 Contact: Alice Cherry, (847) 859-9572; info@climatedefenseproject.org Climate Defense Project has joined a coalition of nonprofits and legal groups called Protect the Protest. The coalition, which launched today, is dedicated to the legal defense of individuals and groups facing SLAPPs, or strategic lawsuits against public participation. SLAPPs are used by business...

Climate Defense Project July 17, 2018 Contact: Kelsey Skaggs, (510) 883-3118 ; info@climatedefenseproject.org The Minnesota Supreme Court today ordered that a groundbreaking climate protest case be allowed to proceed, setting the stage for one of the nation’s first trials involving the climate necessity defense. The case — which stems from a 2016 act of civil...

Climate Defense Project co-founders Alice Cherry and Kelsey Skaggs have been awarded a prestigious two-year Echoing Green Climate Fellowship to support their work with the organization. As Echoing Green Climate Fellows, Alice and Kelsey will receive financial support for CDP’s work defending climate activists and will take part in a network of Echoing Green alumni, advisors, and...

Climate Defense Project’s work to promote the climate necessity defense is featured in Jeremy Brecher’s article in Common Dreams about the importance of climate legal activism. Brecher quotes CDP co-founder Ted Hamilton: Ted Hamilton of the Climate Defense Project notes that a criminal defense cannot be based solely “a constitutional right to a safe climate or on...

The Washington Court of Appeals today ruled against a group of defendants known as the Delta 5, who had attempted to present a climate necessity defense in the criminal trial stemming from their 2014 blockade of coal and oil trains in Washington state. While the court found that the defendants had not provided enough evidence...

ThinkProgress has a piece on the big climate necessity win at the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Kelsey Skaggs, co-founder and staff attorney with Climate Defense Project, is quoted: “This is a big win for anyone who cares about climate change,” Kelsey Skaggs, a co-founder of Climate Defense Project and a member of the defendants’ legal...

Climate Defense Project April 23, 2018 Contact: Ted Hamilton, (847) 859-9572; info@climatedefenseproject.org In a high-profile victory for climate activists and lawyers, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled today that four protesters may present their climate necessity defense at trial. The decision — which rebuffed prosecutors’ attempts to keep the defense out of court — allows...